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poisonenvy's review against another edition
4.0
This was an excellent conclusion to an excellent trilogy, which is why it's a shame that the editting was so atrociously bad. There were multiple sentences and paragraphs that made no sense at all, sentences missing key words, missing or doubled punctuation, and at one point Tithian's name was replaced with Cathan's. It detracted from the story immensely.
That aside, I found this story great. Cathan and Beldinas' relationship was given weight again, and so
Beldinas remained a fascinating character throughout the series, a study in what happens when no one ever tells you no, and mostly managed to avoid becoming a flat, two-demsional character it would have been easy to make him. Quarath, sadly, never seems to evolve much past a formless sycophant. I felt as though he had a lot of potential in this story that he never quite lived up to, and his part in the trilogy could easily have been cut. I felt much the same about Bron, and don't see why his part in the latter half of the novel couldn't have been left to Tithian instead; it seems strange to give such an important roll to someone who had no connection to any of the main characters.
It was interesting to see Fistandatilus' plans take shape with the portal without Caramon, Raistlin, and Tasslehoff there to thwart him.
The parallel of Cathan having the chance to put Beldinas "out of his misery" once he realized he was mad was a very, very nice parallel to Cathan killing his brother, the original Tancred, once he had lost his wits to the plague. Likewise, Tancred the younger's decision of supporting the church instead of his family/the greater good was a very nice mirror to Cathan's choice.
The final twist of Cathan being the Lightbringer was one that I saw from the moment the prophecy was first revealed in the first book, but Pierson did a good job in the mid-story at steering the reader away from that conclusion, making it a very good twist.
Overall, a fantastic story, and I look forward to reading Pierson's other additions to the Dragonlance canon, though I still have a while to go before I get there.
That aside, I found this story great. Cathan and Beldinas' relationship was given weight again, and so
Spoiler
Cathan's betrayal was finally given the weight it needed in the second book; when choosing between staying by the man he loved most in the world, or doing what was right, he had no choice to do what was right.Beldinas remained a fascinating character throughout the series, a study in what happens when no one ever tells you no, and mostly managed to avoid becoming a flat, two-demsional character it would have been easy to make him. Quarath, sadly, never seems to evolve much past a formless sycophant. I felt as though he had a lot of potential in this story that he never quite lived up to, and his part in the trilogy could easily have been cut. I felt much the same about Bron, and don't see why his part in the latter half of the novel couldn't have been left to Tithian instead; it seems strange to give such an important roll to someone who had no connection to any of the main characters.
It was interesting to see Fistandatilus' plans take shape with the portal without Caramon, Raistlin, and Tasslehoff there to thwart him.
The parallel of Cathan having the chance to put Beldinas "out of his misery" once he realized he was mad was a very, very nice parallel to Cathan killing his brother, the original Tancred, once he had lost his wits to the plague. Likewise, Tancred the younger's decision of supporting the church instead of his family/the greater good was a very nice mirror to Cathan's choice.
The final twist of Cathan being the Lightbringer was one that I saw from the moment the prophecy was first revealed in the first book, but Pierson did a good job in the mid-story at steering the reader away from that conclusion, making it a very good twist.
Overall, a fantastic story, and I look forward to reading Pierson's other additions to the Dragonlance canon, though I still have a while to go before I get there.
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